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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2015)
NATION/WORLD Tuesday, August 11, 2015 East Oregonian Page 7A Shooting, protests put Ferguson back on edge BRIEFLY Associated Press Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP Dan Bender, with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, takes a water sample from the Animas River near Du- rango, Colo., Aug. 6. Residents demand answers as mine spill fouls rivers ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Farmers, towns and tribes slammed water-intake gates shut as a sludge-laden plume from a Colorado mine spill rolled down principal rivers in the desert Southwest on Monday, prompting local of¿cials and families to demand answers about possible long-term threats from heavy metals borne along by the spill. Colorado and New Mexico declared stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers to be disaster areas as the orange-colored waste stream estimated to be 100 miles long churned downstream toward Lake Powell in Utah after the spill Wednesday at the abandoned Gold King mine. The Navajo Nation, which covers parts of New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, also declared an emergency as it shut down water intake systems and stopped diverting water from the San Juan River. The 3 million gallons of mine waste included high concentrations of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. Workers with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accidentally unleashed the spill as federal and contract workers inspected the abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. The EPA has said the contaminants were rolling too fast to be an immediate health threat. Experts and federal environmental of¿cials say they expect the river system to dilute the heavy metals before they pose a longer- term threat. The EPA said stretches of the rivers would be closed for drinking water, recreation and other uses at least through Aug. 17. Air controller study shows chronic fatigue WASHINGTON (AP) — Air traf¿c controllers¶ work schedules often lead to chronic fatigue, making them less alert and endangering the safety of the national air traf¿c system, according to a study the government kept secret for years. Federal Aviation Administration of¿cials posted the study online Monday, hours after The Associated Press reported the ¿ndings — and noted that agency of¿cials had declined to furnish a copy despite repeated requests over the past three months, including a Freedom of Information Act ¿ling. The impetus for the study was a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board to the FAA and the National Air Traf¿c Controllers Association to revise controller schedules to provide rest periods that are long enough “to obtain suf¿cient restorative sleep.´ The study found that nearly 2 in 10 controllers had committed signi¿cant errors in the previous year — such as bringing planes too close together — and over half attributed the errors to fatigue. A third of controllers said they perceived fatigue to be a “high´ or “extreme´ safety risk. Greater than 6 in 10 controllers indicated that in the previous year they had fallen asleep or experienced a lapse of attention while driving to or from midnight shifts, which typically begin about 10 p.m. and end around 6 a.m. Overall, controllers whose activity was closely monitored by scientists averaged 5.8 hours of sleep per day over the course of a work week. They averaged only 3.1 hours before midnight shifts and 5.4 hours before early morning shifts. The most tiring schedules required controllers to work ¿ve straight midnight shifts, or to work six days a week several weeks in a row, often with at least one midnight shift per week. The study is composed of a survey of 3,268 controllers about their work schedules and sleep habits, and a ¿eld study that monitored the sleep and the mental alertness of more than 200 controllers at 30 air traf¿c facilities. Grizzlies may be killed after fatal Yellowstone attack BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Two grizzly bears captured close to where a seasonal employee of Yellowstone National Park was killed could be euthanized if DNA tests determine they attacked the man, authorities said. Lance Crosby, 63, who worked as a nurse in the park¶s medical clinics, was hiking alone and without bear spray when he was killed, according to park of¿cials. His body was discovered Friday by a park ranger about a half-mile from the nearest developed trail, hidden beneath pine needles and dirt. Crosby, of Billings, Montana, was an experienced hiker and his wounds indicated he tried to ¿ght back, of¿cials said. Biologists set up a trap that snared an adult female bear at the scene that night. A cub was captured Monday, and biologists hoped to trap another cub after a camera recorded an image of two cubs in the area, Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said. Park Superintendent Dan Wenk said the adult bear would be killed for public safety if DNA samples show it was involved in Crosby¶s death. The cubs ¿rst would be offered to a zoo or rehabilitation center, but such placements are dif¿cult and the animals likely would be killed if no permanent home is found, Bartlett said. Crosby was the sixth person killed by grizzlies since 2010 in the greater Yellowstone area, which has an estimated 750 of the animals and includes the park and surrounding portions of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. FERGUSON, Mo. — Ferguson was a community on edge again Monday, a day after a protest marking the anni- versary of Michael Brown¶s death was punctuated with gunshots and police critically wounded a black 18-year-old accused of opening ¿re on of¿cers. Police, protesters and people who live and work in the St. Louis suburb were bracing for what another night of demonstrations along West Florissant Avenue might bring. The thoroughfare was the site of massive protests and rioting after Brown was fatally shot last year in a confrontation with a white Ferguson of¿cer. “Of course I¶m worried,´ said Sandy Sansevere, a retired health care worker who volunteers at the retail store operated by the nonpro¿t group I Love Ferguson, which was formed after Brown¶s death to promote the community. “What scares me are the guns.´ Several hundred people had gath- ered by 9 p.m. Monday, chanting and holding signs. There were no apparent signs of conÀict. Earlier in the day, the father of the suspect who was shot called the police version of events “a bunch of lies.´ He said two girls who were with his son told him he was unarmed and had been drawn into a dispute involving two groups of young people. St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger declared a state of emergency, which authorizes county Police Chief Jon Belmar to take control of police emergency management in and around Ferguson. Protests spilled outside of Ferguson. Almost 60 protesters were arrested around midday Monday for blocking the entrance to the federal courthouse in downtown St. Louis. Authorities planned to release them on a promise to appear later in court. Protesters later brieÀy blocked Inter- state 70 during the late afternoon rush hour, with an additional undetermined number of arrests made. Among those arrested at the court- Cristina M. Fletes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP People protest on West Florissant Ave., Sunday in Ferguson, Mo., on the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown being shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. house was scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West. That protest, like other commem- oration events over the past few days, was largely peaceful and somber. But on Sunday, several hundred people gathered in the street on West Floris- sant, ignoring an of¿cer on a bullhorn repeatedly warning them to get to the sidewalk or face arrest. Eventually, a few lobbed glass bottles and rocks at of¿cers. One of¿cer was hospitalized with cuts to the face after being hit with a rock. Two others had minor injuries after protesters sprayed them with pepper spray. As tensions escalated, several gunshots suddenly rang out from the area near a strip of stores, including some that had been looted moments earlier. Belmar believes the shots came from about six different shooters. What prompted the shooting was not clear, but Belmar said two groups had been feuding. The shots sent protesters and reporters running for cover. The shooters included the suspect, Tyrone Harris Jr., whom police had been watching out of concern that he was armed, Belmar said. During the gun¿re, the suspect crossed the street and apparently spotted plainclothes of¿cers arriving in an unmarked van with distinctive red and blue police lights, Belmar said. The suspect allegedly shot into the windshield of the van. The four of¿cers in the van ¿red back, then pursued the suspect on foot. The suspect again ¿red on the of¿cers when he became trapped in a fenced-in area, the chief said, and all four opened ¿re. Harris was in critical condition after surgery. Prosecutors announced 10 charges against him — ¿ve counts of armed criminal action, four counts of ¿rst-degree assault on a law enforce- ment of¿cer and a ¿rearms charge. All 10 are felonies. All four of¿cers in the van, each wearing protective vests, escaped injury. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said. Tyrone Harris Sr. told The Associated Press his son was a close friend of Michael Brown and was in Ferguson on Sunday night to pay respects. The elder Harris said his son got caught up in a dispute and was running after gun¿re broke out. Japan restarts reactor after break due to Fukushima TOKYO (AP) — A power plant operator in southern Japan restarted a nuclear reactor on Tuesday, the ¿rst to begin operating under new requirements following the Fukushima disaster. Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it had restarted the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai nuclear plant as planned. The restart marks Japan¶s return to nuclear energy four-and-half-years after the 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan following an earthquake and tsunami. The Fukushima disaster displaced more than 100,000 people due to radioactive contamination and spurred a national debate over this resource- scarce country¶s reliance on nuclear power. A majority of Japanese oppose the return to nuclear energy. Dozens of protesters, including ex-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was in of¿ce at the time of the disaster and has become an outspoken critic of nuclear power, were gathered outside the AUGUST 11-15, 2015 plant as police stood guard. The Nuclear Regulation Authority af¿rmed the safety of the Sendai reactor and another one at the plant last September under stricter safety rules imposed after the 2011 accident, the worst since the 1986 Cher- nobyl explosion. The Sendai No. 1 reactor is scheduled to start generating power Friday and reach full capacity next month. Koichi Miyazawa, Japan¶s industry minister, said Tuesday that the government would “put safety ¿rst´ in resuming use of nuclear power. All of Japan¶s 43 workable reactors were idled for the past two years pending safety checks. To offset the shortfall in power output, the country ramped up imports of oil and gas and ¿red up more thermal power plants, slowing progress toward reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to have the reactors restarted as soon as possible to help reduce costly reliance on imported oil and gas and alleviate the ¿nancial burden on utilities of maintaining the idled plants. “There are very strong vested interests to reopen nuclear reactors. Accepting them as permanently closed would have ¿nancial impli- cations that would be hard to manage,´ said Tomas Kaberger, chairman of the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation. Utilities are seeking approvals to restart 23 reactors, including the other Sendai reactor. The government has set a goal to have nuclear power meet more than 20 percent of Japan¶s energy needs by 2030, despite the lingering troubles at the Fukushima plant, which is plagued by massive Àows of contam- inated water leaking from its reactors. Removal of the melted fuel at the plant — the most challenging part of the 30-to-40-year process of shutting it down permanently — will begin only in 2022. H AMLEY S TEAK H OUSE Pick your Barnyard Favorite BEEF • CHICKEN • LAMB PORK • TURKEY $ 15.00 541.278.1100 • COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE FRI & SAT ONLY 2:00-11:00PM Umatilla County Fairgrounds BUS STOPS: •Hermiston Conference Center (Hwy 395) • Davis Carnival Gate #16 (Highland Ave) • West Park School (Orchard Ave) • Thompson Hall Gate #2 (Orchard Ave) NIXYAAWII CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEMBERSHIP LUNCHEON Thursday, August 13 11:45am-1pm Tamástslikt Cultural Institute “Marijuana Legalization: How does Oregon’s latest initiative affect your business?” ADDITIONAL PARKING at West Park Elem. & Orchard & 1st • Tues-Sat Title Sponsor Co-Sponsored by Mid-Columbia Bus Co. Call or stop by the Fair Office: 515 W. Orchard, Hermiston 541-567-6121 • www.co.umatilla.or.us/fair Tickets are $15 members; $17 non-members Advance reservations required by email to nixyaawiichamber@live.com.
